Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com
AbsolutePunk	79%
Allmusic
Alternative Press
CCM Magazine
Christianity Today
Cross Rhythms
Jesus Freak Hideout
Melodic
Patrol Magazine	7.1/10
The Phantom Tollbooth

New Surrender is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Anberlin, released on September 30, 2008. It is the band's first album on a major label, after signing with Universal Republic Records on August 16, 2007. The album peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200 and 5 on the Billboard Top Modern Rock / Alternative Albums chart.

Anberlin went in to record their fourth album only twelve months after the 2007 release of their third, Cities. The album was recorded at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California, in early 2008 by producer Neal Avron. The first single from the album, "Feel Good Drag" was originally set to be released to radio prior to the album on 18 August 2008, but was pushed back to 26 August.

Anberlin set about doing two weeks of pre-production for New Surrender, a significant amount more than the four days they did with Cities. Guitarist Joseph Milligan said the pre-production comprised them "playing in a room, playing all the new songs together and working on parts together. We would tweak things here and there." He also said the extra time allowed more input from the other band members, "everybody tossed in ideas. It was something we had never really had before. It was definitely a group effort." The two weeks enabled Milligan and fellow guitarist Christian McAlhaney to weed down the original 24 songs they had, to just 17, before moving into the studio and tracking 15.

Lead vocalist Stephen Christian, who is also the main lyricist for Anberlin, has said that he wrote a portion of the fourth album while on a trip to New Orleans, at a small cafe named Kahve. Christian said "the pressures were immense" after signing with Universal, and that he had a "minor breakdown" leading him to "run away to New Orleans" in February to write a couple of songs for the record. Reminiscing over the experience he added, "the songs that came from the trip, inspired by New Orleans, are like none other before".

...
Wikipedia